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- 𝗮 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿. ♥

:feat~ dainsleif x gn!reader:

my entry for an exchange event, a gift !!

⤷ angst and slight enemies to lovers, implied past relationship

You were of his past. His cursed, damned past.

Those remnants of moments that plagued him, those fragments that coursed through his blood like poison, the collapsing world, alight with tongues of flame... those mirages that flash across his vision, all of it, whenever he sees you.

The way he felt like his heart was wrenched into two.

The times when he would collapse on the ground, hand clutching the fabric above his heart, breathing labored and sight flickering... how the entire world seemed to burn.

He could still hear them.

The way the skies seemed to darken, and how they screamed, their cries of help, the desperate calls of his name, and then the deafening silence.

The silence that seemed to overpower all sounds.

Those cursed recollections that your very sight would inflict upon him. The mimicked pain that felt much more real than it should've, the way the ghostly war he had fought eons before still perpetually raged on in his mind.

In those times, he despised the way he silently shook, fists clenched and figure disheveled.

And for that, he despised you as well.

Was his hatred misplaced? Yes, and he was shamefully aware of that fact. But Dainsleif is one who has been broken far too many times, someone whose hope has been shattered past repair.

He needed someone to place his blame on, somewhere to pin for the wracking pains he experienced, and so there you were.

Yes, he would tell himself at times, late at night. There... you were.

Yet, even after he had distanced himself from you, why did his heart ache only more? He hadn't seen you in eons, so why? He hated you, he should hate you, but why did the sight of you make him hurt in this way?

"Dain."

That voice.

To think a single call of his name could make him tremble the way he did.

To think that such a simple word would make him rethink... everything.

He doesn't want to look at you, but he does.

Ah... how could you still be so beautiful? So effortlessly enrapturing, just like all those years before? The way you said his name - just like that time when the two of you had watched the sunset, your head resting on his chest peacefully as he played with your hair, how the two of you had smiled so blissfully... so obliviously.

Those warm times that had been the happiest times of his life.

"Dain! Daiiinnnn!" Your voice rang through the air, causing the blonde to turn around, a quizzical expression on his face.

"Love, what is it?" He watched as you ran over, beaming all the while.

"Hehe, I have a surprise for you~!" The basket on your arm rustled as you dug through it, the excitement in your expression growing by the second. With a sparkle of your eyes, you grinned at him. "C'mon, close your eyes, silly!"

"...Alright." He had tentatively closed them, awkwardly shifting around while waiting for... well, whatever you were about to do. And suddenly, amidst the sounds of your giggles, there was something else, the beating of his heart, loud in his flushed ears.

"...And there we go! You can open your eyes now~"

And when he did, starry eyes fluttering, all he can hear is his own heart, his fast inhale and exhale. The world seems to glimmer, all of it seems to shine, and in the middle of it is you. You, who is looking at him with such adoring eyes, sparkling with such ecstasy just because he was with you.

"Dain?"

With a voice of birdsong.

"Do you like it? I made it for you!"

"Me?" There are flower petals in half his sight, a crown of them on his head. And from where he stands, vision tunneling, all he can see is you, wearing a matching one of your own, smiling at him so blissfully.

"I love you, Dain."

Your voice from the past spoke to him, words ringing in his head. You had stared up at him, smiling, eyes filled with such adoration.

...At that time, he had repeated those words.

And now, underneath his unchanging, calm facade, his heart races shamefully.

What had you done wrong?

Your eyes seem to plead to him, and it hurts. That's right, what had you?

Ever since he had taken up vengeance, ever since he had begun to wander this godforsaken world, he had longed for that warmth.

It was his fault. All of it - for cursing such a blissfully innocent person as you.

And the way your gaze towards him is still so filled with hopeful affection... really, after all these years, you haven't become any different, not one bit.

No, you have changed - and he can see it in your gaze, in the way you look at him, with such a fractured look in your teary eyes.

For just a moment, he can see it all. How you reach out tentatively, almost out of habit, but hesitatingly pause, before drawing your hand back, only glancing at the man with a trembling gaze. The way your stance is unbalanced, the way you quiver, like you're ready to withdraw at the first sight of danger.

And maybe you were.

"...Dain, please. Stop... Stop running away from me."

Somehow, even your voice sounds shattered. A tear slips from your eyes, then another. "Hate me all you want, but please, don't leave."

And for an instant, everything seems to stop, even time itself.

He wants to take your hands in his and pull you into him. He wants to embrace you, holding you so tightly he might just never let go, but instead, he stays silent. Because he has seen how he has broken you, someone as fragile as porcelain. And he is to blame for his ignorance.

Yes, now he's decided.

He shouldn't interact, shouldn't interfere, because it'll only hurt you more.

Ah... but his body moves on its own.

And before he knows it, there you are, pressed into him, clinging onto him like a lifeline, tears staining his clothes. In the moonlight, the single tear that falls from his shockingly azul eyes glimmers with radiance.

"...I'm sorry. I-"

His wavering voice cracks as he holds you tighter, swallowing hard. He knows that mere words would not be able to bridge the space between the two of you - the gaping chasm that he himself had created, when he had left you. Yet, how else would he be able to show you that he had changed?

"I was a mistake. Love, I promise you.

I will never leave you again." ♥

votes and comments are much appreciated <3

thank you for reading ~ ☆